THE HIGH TIDE OF JOY 75 



A gardener born to his honors should be capable of 

 generous friendships and endowed with a heart over- 

 flowing with religious devotion. As a people we are held 

 fast to an old Saxon trait that forbids showing our emo- 

 tions and letting their warmth radiate kindness on all 

 about us, but to the gardener comes the privilege of love 

 and worship for those within the circle of his horizon. 



Think of the wanderer this morning who is out before 

 the breeze has stolen the dew from the daisies on the 

 lawn, prostrating his soul before the effulgence of the 

 rising sun with the faith of a fire worshiper of the source 

 of light and life. He turns to the trinity symbolized in 

 the iris, the fatherhood, brotherhood, and world-wide 

 sympathy for struggling life, and partakes of the joy of 

 hope and faith in an eternal purpose breathed from every 

 flower uplifted toward the skies. 



This is the true spirit of the devotional impulse of 

 adoration and thanksgiving, beneath the dome of the 

 skies, with nature's own incense filling the air in the 

 great silence of the out of doors. The lily family alone 

 of all the flower sisterhood has the right to provoke this 

 feeling. 



That grand old scientist, Professor Ernst Haeckel, 

 speaks of the iris as endowed with "sensible loveliness." 

 Dull must we be if this mystery fails us, and no sym- 

 pathy rises in the heart as we approach a stately company 

 of these queenly flowers, which are so fragile, so pure, 



